Dinner, Dinner in the Hall

Just coming off one of the best home-cooked meals I have had in Bangalore, and when the time comes to set up my space I know whom to turn to for recipes and tricks of the kitchen trade (of course apart from you mom!). The Almeida’s from Sanjaynagar are a newly wed couple. Mr. Almeida happens to be a childhood friend whom I hold close. He is married to Ms. Right – in a good sense, she has set right a house that one always entered in a topsy turvy world during those bachelor days.

Sear fish, daali thoi, butter garlic prawns, beans sukke, boiled rice

Cronin and Renish so kindly agreed to have me on board their ride to Mangalore and this evening, before the road trip, I was served a typical Mangalorean meal of rava fried sear fish, beans sukke, boiled rice and some real yummy butter garlic prawns. Except for the butter garlic prawns the rest of the meal was cooked by Renish. However Mr. Almeida’s skills were left not too far behind as his online recipe for butter garlic prawns turned out as good as the delicacies on Masterchef Australia that we kept watching while we ate in respectful silence. Respect… for the taste.

The prawns were big and nice, juicy in fact, while the sear fish was fresh and extremely tasty, not overdone, but with just the right amount of masala and flavour. The same goes for the prawns that were cooked just right and with a balanced seasoning that gave out a wonderful aroma while I sat in the hall watching Two and a Half Men sometime earlier.

I have no clue of the nuances of cooking, but I know my food and this was good. And how could I forget the Dhal-e-thoi. This Konkani recipe was made by Renish and summed up a wonderful table.

With this contentment, I go to bed on one of the rainiest days of the year. Tomorrow morning we set forth for Mangalore. It’s freezing out there and with the wet roads we need to take it easy. Cyclone Nilam‘s effect can be seen in Bangalore and lets see how far she stretches.